Artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare in Asia: improving the quality of care, facilitating operational efficiency, and increasing patient access. For example, the National University Health System (NUHS) in Singapore uses AI to accurately predict how long patients will stay in the hospital, which allows for optimal resource allocation and the personalization of treatments. Seoul National University Bundang Hospital in South Korea has a private cloud system that enables quick access to patient records and facilitates collaboration among healthcare providers.
The adoption of AI in healthcare is gaining speed, with a forecasted 60% growth in AI solution adoption by 2026 among care providers in the Asia-Pacific region. This surge is driven by the need for better diagnostic accuracy, speed, and workflow efficiency. Generative AI (GenAI), which is defined as AI systems trained on large amounts of data and capable of learning and improving over time via deep learning, will play a key role as well. It is forecasted that 50% of the healthcare industry in the region will leverage GenAI by 2027 to address data and workflow fragmentation to improve diagnosis and patient safety across various care settings.
Southeast Asia is fast emerging as an important player in the HealthTech sector, driven by rising healthcare demand, technological advances, and supportive government initiatives. The countries at the forefront of these activities are Singapore and Malaysia, with large investments in healthcare infrastructure and innovation. The region also sees strong growth in digital health technologies, such as remote patient monitoring and telemedicine, along with growing interest in AI and machine learning applications in healthcare.
However, challenges persist in the form of a limited number of proficient IT and AI experts, system compatibility issues, and complexities in regulations. In addition, security and compliance concerns need to be taken into account, which requires strong and adaptive solutions for the effective management of data sovereignty and privacy.
Written by: Ames Gross – President and Founder, Pacific Bridge Medical (PBM)
Mr. Gross founded PBM in 1988 and has helped hundreds of medical companies with regulatory and business development issues in Asia. He is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in the Asian medical markets. Mr. Gross has a BA degree, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia University.